It was too early in the day for the local farm lads to come into town for their usual mugs of ale and rounds of games. After lunch, Sam rode out to the Applegroves and other neighboring farms to interrupt their work with questions about Malbo's past. Frodo sought the shirriff's hut to talk to Dondo Punbry. In spite of the sherriff's offer to aid in the investigation, Frodo had barely seen Dondo since that first night. He hoped to make some use of him now.
"Yes, o' course, Mr. Baggins," Dondo said respectfully when Frodo asked for his assistance. "What can I do?"
"You knew Malbo, didn't you? I'd like to learn something of his history, before he came to Gamwich. Did he ever tell you where he came from?"
"Outside Gamwich?" Dondo was pleased to fulfill this request. "Now, he didn't say much, but that he'd wandered about a good deal afore he came here. He told me once over an ale that he was in his `tweens when his parents died and he had only an uncle at Longditch to look after him. He said he lit out from there as soon as he was old enough, and made his own way since."
"Longditch," Frodo repeated the name. Mr. Holeman had mentioned the same town; his unhappy youth with his uncle must have weighed heavily on Malbo's memory. "Did he name any other places where he'd lived or worked more recently?"
"Not as I can recall, Mr. Baggins. I gather he went all about the westward part o' the Shire these last ten or fifteen years, taking work where he found it." The sherriff's brow furrowed as he tried to remember names of any places Malbo might have spoken of. "There was Foxhill Down, and some places in the far north. Little Delving, I know he'd been to, and Nobottle. He talked of going to Michel Delving to see the great races, but I think as he'd only heard tell o' them and hadn't been before. Mr. Woodbine's been there for the pony-racing and talked about it, and you know how Malbo used to like his games."
This brief list seemed to exhaust Dondo's information on the subject. Frodo ventured into another line. "One more question, Sherriff. You told me that there'd been fights at the Mousehole between Malbo and some of the other patrons. Was one of them between Malbo and Ham Gamgee?"
Dondo's mouth popped open and he looked in turn surprised, dismayed, and flustered before he was able to answer, "It was."
"You didn't think it important to mention it?"
"Well, I wasn't there, Mr. Baggins--I only heard tell of it afterwards," the shirriff said apologetically. "I didn't like to say, as I didn't see what'd happened. Besides, as it was Chief Gamgee's own brother..."
Frodo understood.
"You don't think it's Ham now, do you?" asked Dondo. "There's some folk as say so, even his own kin, but I never believed it."
"No, Sherriff. I've looked into the matter and Sam has spoken to his brother. We've agreed that Ham Gamgee is unlikely to be our murderer. Other people look more far suspicious to me."
"Like who, Mr. Baggins?" The sherriff looked intensely interested.
Rather than name his most likely suspects, Frodo decided to follow up with one of the less likely, but about whom some questions still remained unanswered. He made an inspired guess--maybe the shirriff knew more than he was telling here too?--and said, "There's Tully Digby, for example."
"Tully?" Dondo sputtered. "But he never quarreled with Malbo. He wasn't there the night Malbo died, Mr. Baggins. I told you so."
"So you did, and Tully told my friend Sam that he spent that evening at home attending his sick father, only Mr. Digby can't confirm it. Oh, he's ready to swear that his son was there, but he'd had a rumbelo toddy and slept through the night. He can't be sure that Tully was always at home. It'd be easy enough for Tully to slip out for an hour or two and not be missed--isn't that so, Sherriff? What if I were to tell you that someone saw Tully out and about that night?"
This wasn't true, but Frodo wanted to see what response it would get. Its effect on Dondo was remarkable: The shirriff became very red and flustered and got up from his seat to pace the tiny hut as if he wanted to escape it but didn't know where to go. At last he stood still and struggled for a long minute before he said, "I'll tell you then, Mr. Baggins. If Tully was seen, then it can't be helped and better you know than think Tully's a murderer. He was out that night, but I know right where he was, and it wasn't a-hanging Malbo Glossum. Tully was with me."
"Why didn't you say so before?" asked Frodo.
"I didn't like to." Dondo was still very red-faced. "What we was up to, it's an embarrassing thing to admit to--and me a shirriff! And Tully's dad wouldn't like it if he knew. He's warned us against it before."
"What on earth were you up to?" Frodo wondered just what sort of confession he was about to hear. Given Dondo's embarrassment and reluctance to admit to the truth earlier, he could make a reasonable guess. "It's all right, Sherriff," he said reassuringly. "You can tell me, and if it's nothing to do with Malbo's murder, I will tell no one. I understand that there are... things young hobbits get up to, and their families disapprove, but it's nothing to be ashamed of, really. I won't judge you harshly for it."
Dondo looked relieved and extremely grateful. "If that's so, you're a true and proper gentlehobbit, Mr. Baggins! Me and Tully, you see, we were out fishing."
"Fishing?" Frodo repeated the word as if he'd never heard it before, utterly perplexed. "But why-? There's nothing wrong with fishing."
"There's a stream that runs west of Gamwich," Sherrif Punbry hastened to explain. "Nice and wide and swift-running. Whitterbeck, we call it. It's famous for the trout in it, specially at this time o' the spring. Tully and me, we thought we'd go and catch ourselves a brace or two."
"Yes, but why make such a secret of it?" Frodo persisted, still baffled. "And why go fishing at night?"
"Well... the best run o' the stream and the Whitterbeck pool are on Farmer Ardman Gamgee's property, and he's mighty jealous of other folk fishing it. He's got a particular grudge against Tully's dad, and Mr. Digby don't like him."
"I see. Did you catch any fish?"
"We did. I got two little uns, and Tully one a bit bigger. I kept `em in a bucket here," he pointed to an empty corner behind the chubby little stove. "Me and Tully were grilling them up for second breakfast when Ham Gamgee came along and told us about Malbo."
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